Method, Base Station, and User Equipment for Feeding Back ACK/NACK Information for Carrier Aggregation

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a method, a base station, and a user equipment for feeding back ACK/NACK information for carrier aggregation. The method includes: configuring a common field preset in DCI as at least one type of command field related to ACK/NACK feedback of at least two types of command fields related to ACK/NACK feedback, where the common field can be configured as the command fields related to ACK/NACK feedback; and sending the DCI to a user equipment, so that the user equipment feeds back ACK/NACK information according to the DCI.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/996,722, filed on Jun. 4, 2018. U.S. application Ser. No. 15/996,722is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/996,646, filedon Jan. 15, 2016, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,992,005. U.S. application Ser. No.14/996,646 is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/526,102, filed on Oct. 28, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,240,876. U.S.application Ser. No. 14/526,102 is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/725,413, filed on Dec. 21, 2012, now U.S. Pat.No. 8,917,689. U.S. application Ser. No. 13/725,413 is a continuation ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/487,172, filed on Jun. 2, 2012, nowU.S. Pat. No. 8,885,587. U.S. application Ser. No. 13/487,172 is acontinuation of International Application No. PCT/CN2010/079423, filedon Dec. 3, 2010, which claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No.200910251390.9, filed on Dec. 3, 2009, and Chinese Patent ApplicationNo. 201010137731.2, filed on Mar. 24, 2010. All of these patents andapplications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to the field of mobile communicationstechnologies, and in particular to a method, a base station, and a userequipment for feeding back ACK/NACK information for carrier aggregation.

BACKGROUND

In the hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) technology, a datareceiver needs to feed back acknowledgement/negative-acknowledgement(ACK/NACK) information to a data sender to help to determine whetherdata is correctly received. In an uplink direction of a 3rd GenerationPartnership Project (3GPP) Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access(E-UTRA) system, a user equipment feeds back ACK/NACK information aboutdownlink data reception to a base station through a physical uplinkcontrol channel (PUCCH). The 3GPP E-UTRA system is also known as a LongTerm Evolution (LTE) system. In the following description, the PUCCHchannel used by the user equipment to feed back ACK/NACK informationabout downlink data reception to the base station is referred to as anuplink ACK channel.

In the LTE system, the feedback of the ACK/NACK information may becontrolled through downlink control information (DCI). The DCI is usedto indicate scheduling information transmitted over a PDSCH and istransmitted over a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH)corresponding to the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) indicatedby the DCI. The DCI includes a transmission power control (TPC) commandfield, which is used to adjust transmission power of the uplink ACKchannel to send the ACK/NACK information. The TPC command field isgenerally 2 bits long. Particularly, in an LTE time division duplex(TDD) system, one user equipment may feed back ACK/NACK informationcorresponding to PDSCH data transmission of multiple downlink subframesin one uplink subframe. Specifically, the LTE TDD system supports twoACK/NACK information feedback modes, which are an ACK/NACK multiplexingmode and an ACK/NACK bundling mode respectively. In the ACK/NACKmultiplexing mode, uplink ACK/NACK information corresponding to eachPDSCH data transmission is fed back to the base station independently.In the ACK/NACK bundling mode, uplink ACK/NACK information correspondingto multiple times of PDSCH data transmission is fed back to the basestation together after a logic AND operation. To support the ACK/NACKbundling mode, a 2-bit downlink assignment index (DAI) command field isintroduced in the DCI and is used to indicate the number of PDCCHs thatcarry the DCI.

In an LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) system, a carrier aggregation technology ischosen to support wider bandwidth so as to meet requirements of theInternational Telecommunication Union (ITU) on a peak data rate of the4th generation communications technology. In the carrier aggregationtechnology, the spectrums of two or more component carriers areaggregated together to get wider transmission bandwidth, and everycomponent carrier has an independent HARQ process. An LTE-A userequipment may be configured with different numbers of uplink anddownlink component carriers. When the LTE-A user equipment accessesmultiple downlink component carriers simultaneously, ACK/NACKinformation corresponding to the data transmission over PDSCH of everydownlink component carrier is fed back over the uplink ACK channel. Whenthe ACK/NACK information corresponding to the data transmission ofmultiple downlink component carriers needs to be fed back over a sameuplink component carrier, a problem of feeding back the ACK/NACKinformation corresponding to the data transmission of multiple downlinkcomponent carriers over the same uplink component carrier needs to besolved.

With reference to the LTE TDD system, in the LTE-A system, when a userequipment is configured with multiple downlink component carriers toreceive data, feedback of the uplink ACK/NACK information correspondingto the data transmission of the multiple downlink component carriers mayalso adopt the ACK/NACK multiplexing mode or ACK/NACK bundling mode.Likewise, the DCI information may be adopted to control the feedback ofACK/NACK information. For example, a TPC command field is used tocontrol the transmission power of an uplink component carrier and a DAIcommand field is used to support the ACK/NACK bundling mode.

Particularly, in a carrier aggregation LTE-A system, considering therelatively small number of users simultaneously scheduled over multipledownlink component carriers, the uplink ACK channel assignment for theuser equipment may be notified by the base station through explicitsignaling. One manner is that the base station directly notifies theassigned uplink ACK channel resources through high-level signaling. Toincrease the statistical multiplexing probability of uplink ACK channelsof different user equipment, another manner is that the base stationassigns a group of ACK channel resources to the user equipment throughhigh-level signaling and adds an ACK resource indication (ARI) commandfield to the DCI information carried by the PDCCH to further indicatewhich one of the group of high-level assigned uplink ACK channelresources is used currently. The ARI command field does not exist in theLTE system and needs to be introduced additionally in the LTE-A system.The number of bits depends on the number of the high-level assigneduplink ACK channel resources, and generally 2 bits are consideredenough.

In the carrier aggregation LTE-A system, to solve the problem of feedingback ACK/NACK information corresponding to the data transmission ofmultiple downlink component carriers over the same uplink componentcarrier, it may be necessary to introduce a DAI command field and/or anARI command field on the basis of the DCI in the LTE system. Therefore,an ACK/NACK information feedback solution that is backward compatiblewith the LTE system needs to be provided.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present invention provide a method, a base station,and a user equipment for feeding back ACK/NACK information for carrieraggregation, which realize the ACK/NACK information feedback that isbackward compatible with an LTE system in carrier aggregation.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a method for feedingback ACK/NACK information for carrier aggregation, including:configuring a common field preset in downlink control information (DCI)as at least one type of command field related to ACK/NACK feedback,where the common field can be configured as the command fields relatedto ACK/NACK feedback; and sending the DCI to a user equipment, so thatthe user equipment feeds back ACK/NACK information according to the DCI.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a method forfeeding back ACK/NACK information for carrier aggregation, including:receiving downlink control information (DCI) which is sent by a basestation and transmitted by a downlink component carrier; and feedingback ACK/NACK information according to a command field which is relatedto ACK/NACK feedback and configured in a common field preset in the DCI,where the common field can be configured as at least two types ofcommand fields related to ACK/NACK feedback.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a base station,including: a configuring module, configured to configure a common fieldpreset in downlink control information (DCI) as at least one type ofcommand field related to ACK/NACK feedback, where the common field canbe configured as the at least two types of command fields related toACK/NACK feedback; and a sending module, configured to send the DCI to auser equipment, so that the user equipment feeds back ACK/NACKinformation according to the DCI.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a user equipment,including: a receiving module, configured to receive downlink controlinformation (DCI) which is sent by a base station and transmitted by adownlink component carrier; and a feedback module, configured to feedback ACK/NACK information according to a command field which is relatedto ACK/NACK feedback and configured in a common field preset in the DCI,where the common field can be configured as at least two types ofcommand fields related to ACK/NACK feedback.

It can be known from the foregoing technical solutions that, in theembodiments of the present invention, a common field that can beconfigured as at least two types of command fields related to ACK/NACKfeedback is preset in the DCI, so the common field may be configured asdifferent command fields so as to be different required command fieldsrelated to ACK/NACK feedback for LTE-A carrier aggregation, whichrealizes the ACK/NACK information feedback that is backward compatiblewith an LTE system in carrier aggregation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To explain the technical solutions in the embodiments of the presentinvention more clearly, accompanying drawings required in thedescription of the embodiments are briefly introduced below. Apparently,the accompanying drawings to be described in the following are only someembodiments of the present invention. Those of ordinary skill in the artmay also derive other drawings from these accompanying drawings withoutcreative efforts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic flowchart of a method according to a firstembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic composition diagram of a system-linked downlinkcomponent carrier according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of adopted uplink and downlink componentcarriers according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic flowchart of a method according to a secondembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic flowchart of a method according to a thirdembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5a is a schematic flowchart of a method according to a thirdembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic flowchart of a method according to a fourthembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic flowchart of a method according to a fifthembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a base station according toa sixth embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a user equipment accordingto a seventh embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

To make the purpose, technical solutions and benefits in the embodimentsof the present invention clearer, the technical solutions in theembodiments of the present invention are described below in detail withreference to the accompanying drawing in the embodiments of the presentinvention. Apparently, the described embodiments herein are only part ofrather than all embodiments of the present invention. Based on theembodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments derived bythose of ordinary skill in the art without creative efforts shall fallwithin the protection scope of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a schematic flowchart of a method according to a firstembodiment of the present invention, including the following.

Step 11: A base station configures a common field preset in DCI as atleast one type of command field related to ACK/NACK feedback of at leasttwo types of command fields related to ACK/NACK feedback, where thecommon field can be configured as the command fields related to ACK/NACKfeedback.

The at least two types of command fields related to ACK/NACK feedbackinclude at least a DAI command field and/or an ARI command field. Inaddition, the at least two types of command fields related to ACK/NACKfeedback may further include a TPC command field or other command fieldsthat the DCI may have, such as a carrier indication command field and aredundant version command field.

In different scenarios, the common field may be configured as differentcommand fields. The different scenarios may be different feedback modes.For example, when the feedback mode of the ACK/NACK information is abundling feedback mode, the common field is configured as the DAIcommand field; when the feedback mode of the ACK/NACK information is amultiplexing feedback mode, the common field is configured as the ARIcommand field. The different scenarios may also be different types ofdownlink component carriers. For example, the common field in the DCItransmitted over a system-linked downlink component carrier isconfigured as the TPC command field; and the common field in the DCItransmitted over a non-system-linked downlink component carrier isconfigured as the ARI command field and/or the DAI command field. Forthe specific definitions of the system-linked downlink component carrierand non system-linked downlink component carrier, reference may be madeto the following description.

Specifically, at one moment, the common field in the DCI transmittedover every downlink component carrier is respectively configured as aspecific command field. The common field transmitted by every downlinkcomponent carrier may be configured as a same command field; or thecommon field transmitted by the system-linked downlink component carrierand the common field transmitted by the non system-linked downlinkcomponent carrier may be configured as different command fieldsrespectively.

Step 12: The base station sends the DCI to a user equipment, so that theuser equipment feeds back ACK/NACK information according to the DCI.

Specifically, through the foregoing flexible configuration of the commonfield, the DCI may have different control command fields related toACK/NACK information feedback. Therefore, the user equipment may parsethe DCI to obtain the related control command field so as to realize thefeedback of ACK/NACK information for carrier aggregation.

Further, before step ii, the method may include that: the base stationsets the common field in the DCI, which realizes the flexibleconfiguration of the common field.

In the embodiment of the present invention, a public field is set in theDCI and the public field may be configured as different command fieldsin different scenarios. Therefore, from the perspective ofeffectiveness, the common field is equivalent to the sum of commandfields that the common field may be configured as, which realizes therepresentation of more command fields by using a smaller number of bits,and reduces bit overheads and the complexity of design andimplementation. Therefore, the number of bits of the DCI information inan LTE-A system is kept consistent with that in an LTE system as much aspossible, which realizes compatibility with the LTE system, so that mostdesign in the LTE system is passed down to the LTE-A system.

In a carrier aggregation LTE-A system, it may be necessary to add an ARIcommand field; in an FDD system, an additional DAI command field may berequired further. If the command fields are added independently, and inan example in which the ARI command field and the DAI command field areboth 2 bits long, 4 more bits are occupied by the DCI information in theFDD system. This is not good for the compatibility with the LTE systemand what's more, increases the bit overheads and the complexity ofdesign and implementation. For example, more bits occupied by the DCIinformation complicate the design of blind detection. Therefore, in theembodiment of the present invention, a common field is set in the DCI.The command field represented by the common field is not fixedlyconfigured but may be configured as the DAI command field, or the ARIcommand field, or the TPC command field, or other command fieldsaccording to different scenarios. Therefore, one field has the meaningsof multiple command fields, which realized that the required multiplecommand fields are represented by fewer fields so that the bit overheadsand the complexity of design and implementation is reduced.

In a specific embodiment, the common field may be set in a manner ofadding bits in the DCI. For example, a 2-bit field is added as thecommon field, and, according to different scenarios, the common fieldmay be configured as the DAI command field or ARI command field.Compared with the conventional manner where the DAI command field andthe ARI command field need to be added, the manner in the embodiment ofthe present invention occupies fewer bits. That is, in the embodiment ofthe present invention, only 2 bits need to be added, while 4 bits needto be added in the conventional mode.

Although the manner of adding a new common field has advantages over theprior aft, the manner of adding the new common field still adds to thebits of the DCI. For compatibility with the prior art, a more preferablemanner is to make full use of the existing command fields in the DCI toset a common field without increasing the bits occupied by the DCI.

To keep compatibility with the LTE system, the command fields in the DCIof the LTE system, such as the TPC command field, modulation and codingscheme command field, new data indication command field, and redundantversion command field, are passed down to the DCI of the LTE-A system.In addition, to support some LTE-A specific functions, some specialcommand fields are added for the LTE-A user equipment, for example, acarrier indication command field used to support cross-carrierscheduling of PDSCH transmission by a PDCCH.

One or more of the foregoing LTE-A command fields may be used as thecommon field. For example, the DCI information of an LTE-A userequipment that supports cross-carrier scheduling of a PDSCH by a PDCCHincludes a 3-bit carrier indication command field; when the number ofaggregated carriers of the user equipment is small, the 3-bit carrierindication command field has some redundant bits or redundant states.The 3 bits may be used as a common field, and the redundant bits orredundant states may be used to transmit the carrier indication commandfield, and/or the ARI command field, and/or the DAI command fieldsimultaneously. For another example, the redundant version command fieldis used to indicate the redundant version of the current PDSCHtransmission in a physical layer HARQ process, and the 2 bitscorresponding of the redundant version command field may be used as thecommon field. For an initial PDSCH transmission, the common field isused as the ARI command field and a preset default redundant version isused. For a PDSCH retransmission, the common field is used as theredundant version command field and the same uplink ACK channel as thatfor the initial transmission is assigned for the retransmission.However, no matter whether the common field is designed based on theexisting carrier indication command field or redundant version commandfield, a great loss of scheduling flexibility is brought.

During the implementation of the present invention, the inventor findsthat, in the case of one user equipment, for a PDSCH transmitted over adownlink component carrier that are configured to feed back ACK/NACKinformation over the same uplink component carrier, the DCI that carriesscheduling information of the PDSCH has the same TPC command field at asame moment. This is because the TPC command fields are all used tocontrol the transmission power of the uplink ACK channel on a sameuplink component carrier. Because the TPC command field included in eachDCI is the same, the TPC command field is redundant to the system, sothe TPC command field may be fully utilized and configured as a commonfield. According to whether the common field is carried in the DCI of asystem-linked downlink component carrier, the common field that replacesthe original TPC command field may be configured as a TPC command field,a DAI command field and/or an ARI command field.

In the LTE system, the uplink ACK channel may be mapped implicitly froma PDCCH that carries the DCI. In a carrier aggregation LTE-A system, tokeep compatibility with user equipment that only supports an earlyversion of the LTE, uplink ACK channel resources are reserved on oneuplink component carrier for implicit mapping from the PDCCH transmittedover one or more downlink component carriers. For ease of description,if an uplink ACK channel resource implicitly mapped from a PDCCH isreserved on one uplink component carrier for a certain downlinkcomponent carrier, the downlink component carrier is described as a“system-linked downlink component carrier” of the uplink componentcarrier. FIG. 2 is a schematic composition diagram of a system-linkeddownlink component carrier according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. As shown in FIG. 2, there are three downlink componentcarriers in a carrier aggregation LTE-A system, namely, downlinkcomponent carrier-1, downlink component carrier-2, and downlinkcomponent carrier-3, and two uplink component carriers, namely, uplinkcomponent carrier-1 and uplink component carrier-2. An uplink ACKchannel resource implicitly mapped from a PDCCH is reserved on uplinkcomponent carrier-1 for downlink component carrier-1; uplink ACK channelresources implicitly mapped from PDCCHs are reserved on uplink componentcarrier-2 for downlink component carrier-2 and downlink componentcarrier-3. Therefore, downlink component carrier-1 is a system-linkeddownlink component carrier of uplink component carrier-1; and downlinkcomponent carrier-2 and downlink component carrier-3 are system-linkeddownlink component carriers of uplink component carrier-2. In a carrieraggregation LTE-A system, to avoid high overhead of uplink ACK channelresources reserved on an uplink component carrier through implicitmapping from PDCCHs, the number of system-linked downlink componentcarriers of the uplink component carrier may be small.

In the following embodiments, the case that the multiple downlinkcomponent carriers of one user equipment are configured to feed backACK/NACK information over a same uplink component carrier is taken forexample. When one user equipment is configured to feed back ACK/NACKinformation over multiple uplink component carriers at the same time,downlink component carriers that feed back ACK/NACK information over thesame uplink component carrier are regarded as one downlink componentcarrier group, and different downlink component carrier groups isprocessed respectively according to the manner described in theembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of adopted uplink and downlink componentcarriers according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shownin FIG. 3, in the embodiment of the present invention, for a userequipment, it is assumed that the ACK/NACK information of PDSCHstransmitted over downlink component carrier-1, downlink componentcarrier-2, and downlink component carrier-3 are all fed back over uplinkcomponent carrier-2, where the PDSCH is used to transmit data, the PDCCHis used to transmit the scheduling information DCI of the PDSCH, and thePUCCH is the uplink ACK channel used to feed back the ACK/NACKinformation. In addition, among downlink component carrier-1, downlinkcomponent carrier-2, and downlink component carrier-3, only downlinkcomponent carrier-2 is a system-linked downlink component carrier of theuplink component carrier-2.

FIG. 4 is a schematic flowchart of a method according to a secondembodiment of the present invention. This embodiment takes a TDD systemfor example. As shown in FIG. 4, the method includes:

Step 41: A base station sets a common field in DCI, where the commonfield can be configured as an ARI command field and a DAI command field.

For a non-system-linked downlink component carrier, an ARI command fieldneeds to be used to indicate an assigned ACK channel resource. After theARI command field is added in the DCI, the number of bits of the DCIdefinitely increases, which increases bit overheads and causesincompatibility with an LTE system. To reduce the bit overheads andaccomplish better compatibility with the LTE system, in this embodiment,the common field is designed based on the existing DAI command field inthe conventional DCI, so that the common field may be configured as aDAI command field or an ARI command field.

Because an LTE TDD system may support the ACK/NACK bundling feedbackmode, the DCI in the TDD system includes the DAI command field. Forcompatibility with the LTE system, in a carrier aggregation LTE-A TDDsystem, the existing DAI command field may be used, and the DAI commandfield is set as a common field to represent not only the DAI commandfield but also the ARI command field. Therefore, when the DCI needs toinclude an ARI command field, no new field needs to be added in the DCI.Certainly, in the case of an FDD system, the common field may be set ina manner of newly adding 2 bits to represent the DAI command field orthe ARI command field. Compared with the independent setting of both theDAI command field and the ARI command field where 4 bits are required,this also reduces the bit overheads.

Step 42: When the bundling feedback mode is adopted, the base stationconfigures at least one of common fields in the DCI transmitted by alldownlink component carriers as the DAI command field; when themultiplexing feedback mode is adopted, the base station configures atleast one of common fields in the DCI transmitted by all downlinkcomponent carriers as the ARI command field.

Specifically, of all downlink component carriers, only the common fieldin the DCI transmitted by the primary downlink component carrier isconfigured as the DAI command field or ARI command field; or the commonfield in the DCI transmitted by other one or more downlink componentcarriers is configured as the DAI command field or ARI command field.That is, the DCI that includes a common field configured as the DAIcommand field or ARI command field may be transmitted over one or moremultiple downlink component carriers, where the one downlink componentcarrier may be a primary component carrier or a non-primary componentcarrier.

Specifically, one downlink component carrier may transmit one piece ofDCI or transmit multiple pieces of DCI. When the downlink componentcarrier transmits only one piece of DCI, the common field in the DCI isconfigured as the DAI command field or ARI command field. When thedownlink component carrier transmits multiple pieces of DCI, the commonfield in one or more pieces of DCI is configured as the DAI commandfield or ARI command field.

Specifically, one or more common fields may be configured in the DCI.

For ease of design, when the bundling feedback mode is adopted, the basestation may configure the common fields in the DCI transmitted by alldownlink component carriers as the DAI command fields; when themultiplexing feedback mode is adopted, the base station may configurethe common fields in the DCI transmitted by all downlink componentcarriers as the ARI command fields.

Taking FIG. 3 for example, the common fields in the DCI corresponding todownlink component carrier-1, downlink component carrier-2, and downlinkcomponent carrier-3 are all configured as the DAI command fields in thebundling feedback mode, and are all configured as the ARI command fieldsin the multiplexing feedback mode. The uplink ACK/NACK informationfeedback mode may be specific to a cell. That is, all user equipments ina cell adopt a same uplink ACK/NACK information feedback mode.Alternatively the uplink ACK/NACK information feedback mode may bespecific to a user equipment. That is, different user equipment mayadopt different uplink ACK/NACK information feedback modes.

Alternatively, when the bundling feedback mode is adopted, for example,the base station configures the common field in at least one piece ofDCI transmitted by the downlink PCC (primary component carrier) and/orthe common field in the DCI corresponding to the PDSCH transmission ofthe downlink PCC as the DAI command field; when the multiplexingfeedback mode is adopted, for example, the base station configures thecommon field in at least one piece of DCI transmitted by the downlinkPCC and/or the common field in the DCI corresponding to the PDSCHtransmission of the downlink PCC as the ARI command field.

For a user equipment in a carrier aggregation mode, one downlink PCC andone uplink PCC may be defined. The downlink PCC may be used for radiolink failure detection and system message updating of the userequipment, and after configured, the downlink PCC cannot be deactivated.The uplink PCC may be used by the user equipment to feed back uplinkcontrol information. Taking FIG. 3 for example, downlink componentcarrier-2 and uplink component carrier-2 may be respectively defined asthe downlink PCC and uplink PCC of the user equipment.

When the bundling feedback mode is adopted, if the DAI command field isused to indicate the total number of PDCCHs that carry DCI at themoment, the base station may configure only the common fields in part ofthe DCI transmitted by the downlink PCC and/or the common field in theDCI corresponding to the PDSCH transmission of the downlink PCC as theDAI command fields, and configure the common field in other DCI as apreset default value to use the common field in other DCI for otherpurposes. When the multiplexing feedback mode is adopted, one ACK/NACKinformation feedback manner is to assign a different uplink ACK channel,for example, the PUCCH format 1a/1b channel, to the PDSCH transmissionof each downlink component carrier, and feed back the ACK/NACKinformation over the selected uplink ACK channel through a presetapproach. For ease of description, this manner is referred to as achannel selection manner. Another ACK/NACK information feedback manneris to assign a common uplink ACK channel, for example, the PUCCH format2/2a/2b channel or a new format PUCCH channel, to the PDSCH transmissionof all downlink component carriers, and feed back the jointly codedACK/NACK information over the assigned uplink ACK channel. For ease ofdescription, this manner is referred to as a joint coding manner. Whenthe joint coding manner is adopted to feed back ACK/NACK information,because a common uplink ACK channel is assigned to the PDSCHtransmission of all downlink component carriers, the base station mayconfigure only the common fields in part of the DCI transmitted by thedownlink PCC and/or the common field in the DCI corresponding to thePDSCH transmission of the downlink PCC as the ARI command fields, andconfigure the common field in other DCI as a preset default value or usethe common field in other DCI for other purposes.

Step 43: The base station sends the DCI to a user equipment, so that theuser equipment feeds back ACK/NACK information according to the DCI.

In this embodiment, a common field is designed based on the conventionalDAI command field, where the common field may be configured as a DAIcommand field or an ARI command field, which realizes the representationof two pieces of information by using the existing command field thatcan only represent one piece of information without the need of anadditional command field, and reduces the bit overheads and thecomplexity of design and implementation.

FIG. 5 is a schematic flowchart of a method according to a thirdembodiment of the present invention. This embodiment takes a TDD systemor an FDD system for example. As shown in FIG. 5, the method includesthe following.

Step 51: A base station sets a common field in DCI, where the commonfield can be configured as a TPC command field and an ARI command field.

Because the TPC command field is used to control power transmission, theTPC command field exists in both the TDD system and the FDD system. Forcompatibility with an LTE system, in a carrier aggregation LTE-A system,the existing TPC command field may be used, and the TPC command fieldmay be set as a common field that may represent not only the TPC commandfield but also the ARI command field. In this way, when the DCI needs toinclude an ARI command field, no new field needs to be added in the DCI.

Step 52: The base station configures a common field in at least onepiece of DCI transmitted by a system-linked downlink component carrieras a TPC command field; and configures a common field in at least onepiece of DCI transmitted by a non-system-linked downlink componentcarrier as an ARI command field.

Specifically, for one user equipment, when ACK/NACK informationcorresponding to PDSCHs transmitted by N_(DL) downlink componentcarriers is configured to be fed back over one uplink component carrier,the system-linked downlink component carrier of the uplink componentcarrier may possibly transmit n PDCCHs simultaneously, where 1≤n≤N_(DL)and the n PDCCHs respectively carry the DCI information for schedulingPDSCH transmission of n downlink component carriers. The case that n isgreater than 1 is possibly caused by the following two factors: in theN_(DL) downlink component carriers, there are at least two system-linkeddownlink component carriers of the uplink component carrier; and thePDCCH performs cross-carrier scheduling on the PDSCH transmission ofother carriers. There is one common field respectively in the DCIcarried by the n PDCCHs.

In step 52, the base station configures the common field in at least onepiece of DCI transmitted by the system-linked downlink component carrieras the TPC command field, where the at least one piece of DCItransmitted by the system-linked downlink component carrier may be theDCI corresponding to the PDSCH transmission of the downlink PCC and/orat least one piece of DCI transmitted by the downlink PCC.

In step 52, the base station configures the common field in at least onepiece of DCI transmitted by the non-system-linked downlink componentcarrier as the ARI command field. The configuring the common field in atleast one piece of DCI transmitted by the non-system-linked downlinkcomponent carrier as the ARI command field may Specifically be:configuring the common field in the DCI transmitted by thenon-system-linked downlink component carrier as the ARI command field,for example, when the ACK/NACK information is fed back in a channelselection manner or joint coding manner; or configuring the common fieldin a piece of pre-designated DCI transmitted by the non-system-linkeddownlink component carrier as the ARI command field, where, for example,when the ACK/NACK information is fed back in the joint coding manner,the pre-designated DCI may specifically be DCI which is transmittedfirst or last by the non-system-linked downlink component carrier andcorresponds to the PDSCH transmission of a downlink non-PCC in theactivated downlink component carriers. In this step, the at least onepiece of DCI transmitted by the non-system-linked downlink componentcarrier may be one or more pieces of DCI transmitted over one of thenon-system-linked downlink component carriers, or one or more pieces ofDCI transmitted over multiple carriers.

Taking FIG. 3 for example, the common field in the DCI corresponding todownlink component carrier-2 is configured as the TPC command field, andthe common fields in the DCI corresponding to downlink componentcarrier-1 and downlink component carrier-3 are configured as the ARIcommand fields; or the common field in the DCI corresponding to downlinkcomponent carrier-2 is configured as the TPC command field, and thecommon field in pre-designated DCI is configured as the ARI commandfield, where the DCI corresponding to downlink component carrier-3 isthe pre-designated DCI.

Step 53: The base station sends the DCI to a user equipment, so that theuser equipment feeds back ACK/NACK information according to the DCI.

In this embodiment, the base station assigns ACK channel resources forthe user equipment in the following manner: An uplink ACK channelresource for implicit mapping is reserved in one uplink componentcarrier for each PDCCH transmitted over the system-linked downlinkcomponent carrier of the uplink component carrier. Therefore, the uplinkACK channel resource assigned to the PDSCH transmission of sending acorresponding PDCCH over the system-linked downlink component carriermay be obtained through implicit mapping from the corresponding PDCCH;the uplink ACK channel assigned to the PDSCH transmission of sending thecorresponding PDCCH over the non-system-linked downlink componentcarrier cannot be obtained through implicit mapping from thecorresponding PDCCH, but may be obtained in an explicit signalingnotification manner. In this case, for the PDSCH transmission of eachdownlink component carrier, if the corresponding PDCCH may be sent overa non-system-linked downlink component carrier, the base station assignsa group of uplink ACK channel resources through high-level signaling.The group of uplink ACK channel resources assigned through high-levelsignaling may be different or the same for the PDSCH transmission ofdifferent component carriers. The common fields in the DCI carried bythe PDCCHs sent over the system-linked downlink component carrier mayall be configured as the TPC command fields; the common fields carriedby the PDCCHs sent over the non-system-linked downlink component carriermay all be configured as the ARI command fields.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 5a , this embodiment may further include:

Step 51: The base station sets a common field in the DCI, where thecommon field can be configured as a TPC command field and an ARI commandfield.

Step 54: The base station configures the common field in at least onepiece of DCI transmitted by the downlink PCC and/or the common field inthe DCI corresponding to the PDSCH transmission of the downlink PCC asthe ARI command field; and configures at least one of common fields inthe rest DCI as the TPC command field.

Specifically, when the joint coding manner is adopted to feed backACK/NACK information, because a common uplink ACK channel is assigned tothe PDSCH transmission of all downlink component carriers, the basestation may configure only the common field in at least one piece of DCItransmitted by the downlink PCC and/or the common field in the DCIcorresponding to the PDSCH transmission of the downlink PCC as the ARIcommand field; configure the at least one of common fields in the restDCI as the TPC command field; and configure the common field in otherDCI as a preset default value or use the common field in other DCI forother purposes.

Taking FIG. 3 for example, downlink component carrier-2 is a downlinkPCC and downlink component carrier-3 is a downlink non-PCC. In thiscase, the common field in the DCI corresponding to downlink componentcarrier-2 may be configured as the ARI command field, the common fieldin the DCI corresponding to downlink component carrier-3 may beconfigured as the TPC command field, and the common field in the DCIcorresponding to downlink component carrier-1 may be configured as apreset default value.

Step 53: The base station sends the DCI to a user equipment, so that theuser equipment feeds back ACK/NACK information according to the DCI.

That is, in this embodiment and the fourth and fifth embodiments, thecommon field in at least one piece of DCI transmitted by a system-linkeddownlink component carrier, for example, the downlink PCC, may beconfigured as the DAI command field and/or the ARI command field, andthe common field in at least one piece of DCI transmitted by anon-system-linked downlink component carrier, for example, a downlinknon-PCC, may be configured as the TPC command field. Reference andapplications may be made in other cases.

In this embodiment, a common field is designed based on the conventionalTPC command field, where the common field may be configured as a TPCcommand field or ARI command field, which realizes the representation oftwo pieces of information by using the existing command field that canonly represent one piece of information without the need of anadditional command field, and reduces the bit overheads and thecomplexity of design and implementation.

FIG. 6 is a schematic flowchart of a method according to a fourthembodiment of the present invention. This embodiment takes an FDD systemfor example. As shown in FIG. 6, the method includes the following.

Step 61: A base station sets a common field in DCI, where the commonfield can be configured as a TPC command field and a DAI command field.

Step 62: The base station configures the common field in at least onepiece of DCI transmitted by a system-linked downlink component carrieras a TPC command field; and configures the common field in at least onepiece of DCI transmitted by a non-system-linked downlink componentcarrier as a DAI command field.

The at least one piece of DCI transmitted by the system-linked downlinkcomponent carrier may specifically be the DCI corresponding to the PDSCHtransmission of a downlink PCC and/or at least one piece of DCItransmitted by the downlink PCC. The configuring the common field in theat least one piece of DCI transmitted by a non-system-linked downlinkcomponent carrier as the DAI command field may specifically be, forexample, configuring the common fields in the DCI transmitted by thenon-system-linked downlink component carrier as the DAI command field;or configuring the common field in one piece of pre-designated DCItransmitted by the non-system-linked downlink component carrier as theDAI command field. The one piece of pre-designated DCI may specificallybe, for example, DCI which is transmitted first or last by thenon-system-linked downlink component carrier and corresponds to thePDSCH transmission of a downlink non-PCC among activated downlinkcomponent carriers.

Specifically, for one user equipment, when ACK/NACK informationcorresponding to the PDSCHs transmitted by N_(DL) downlink componentcarriers is configured to be fed back over one uplink component carrier,the system-linked downlink component carrier of the uplink componentcarrier may possibly transmit n PDCCHs simultaneously, where 1≤n≤N_(DL)and the n PDCCHs respectively carry the DCI for scheduling PDSCHtransmission of n downlink component carriers. The case that n isgreater than 1 is possibly caused by the following two factors: in theN_(DL) downlink component carriers, there are at least two system-linkeddownlink component carriers of the uplink component carrier; and thePDCCH performs cross-carrier scheduling on the PDSCH transmission ofother carriers. There is one common field respectively in the DCIcarried by the n PDCCHs.

Taking FIG. 3 for example, the common field in the DCI corresponding todownlink component carrier-2 is configured as the TPC command field, andthe common fields in the DCI corresponding to downlink componentcarrier-1 and downlink component carrier-3 are configured as the DAIcommand fields.

Step 63: The base station sends the DCI to a user equipment, so that theuser equipment feeds back ACK/NACK information according to the DCI.

In this embodiment, the base station assigns ACK channel resources tothe user equipment in the following manner: An uplink ACK channelresource for implicit mapping is reserved in one uplink componentcarrier for each PDCCH transmitted over the system-linked downlinkcomponent carrier of the uplink component carrier. Therefore, for thePDSCH transmission of sending a corresponding PDCCH over thesystem-linked downlink component carrier, the assigned uplink ACKchannel resource may be obtained through implicit mapping from thecorresponding PDCCH. The common fields carried by n PDCCHs transmittedover the system-linked downlink component carrier may all be parsed asthe TPC command fields; or only one PDCCH may be selected, for example,the first PDCCH or a pre-designated PDCCH transmitted by a system-linkeddownlink component carrier, and the common field carried by the selectedPDCCH can be configured as the TPC command field while the common fieldscarried by the rest n−1 PDCCHs are all configured as the DAI commandfield.

As described above, the DAI command field is used to indicate the numberof PDCCHs that carry DCI and is mainly used when the uplink ACK/NACKinformation is in the bundling feedback mode. In the bundling feedbackmode, the uplink ACK/NACK information corresponding to multiple PDSCHtransmissions is fed back together through logic AND operation, whichrequires only one uplink ACK channel. Therefore, for PDSCH transmissionof send a corresponding PDCCH over the non-system-linked downlinkcomponent carrier, the uplink ACK channel resource may not be assigned;in this case, only the DAI command field is required to be used toindicate the total number of PDCCHs that are used to carry DCI at thecurrent moment. Taking the configuration shown in FIG. 3 for example,suppose that the corresponding PDCCH that schedules the PDSCHtransmission of each downlink component carrier is sent over thedownlink component carrier itself, and then an uplink ACK channel isassigned to the user equipment through implicit mapping from the PDCCHsent over downlink component carrier-2 and no uplink ACK channel isassigned for the PDSCH transmission over downlink component carrier-1and downlink component carrier-3. If the user equipment receives thePDCCH sent over downlink component carrier-2 successfully, andmeanwhile, receives the PDCCHs sent over downlink component carrier-1and downlink component carrier-3 incorrectly, because the common fieldin the PDCCHs received by the user equipment is not the DAI commandfield, the user equipment cannot detect loss of PDCCHs, which causes anincorrect uplink ACK/NACK information feedback. The channel condition ofa user equipment configured in the ACK/NACK bundling feedback mode isusually poor. Therefore, the number of control channel unit resourcesoccupied by a PDCCH may be always constrained to be more than one. Thismay be guaranteed by keeping sending more than one PDCCH is over asystem-linked downlink component carrier or the PDCCH sent by asystem-linked downlink component carrier occupies resources of more thanone control channel unit. In the process of implicit mapping of uplinkACK channels from PDCCHs, one uplink ACK channel can be mapped from eachcontrol channel unit. When a PDCCH occupies more than one controlchannel unit resource, the number of uplink ACK channels that can bemapped implicitly from the PDCCH sent over a system-linked downlinkcomponent carrier is also more than one. In this case, two uplink ACKchannels may be selected, for example, the two uplink ACK channelsmapped from the first two control channel units occupied by the PDCCH,where the two selected uplink ACK channels are marked as ACK0 and ACK1.To avoid the possible incorrect uplink ACK/NACK information feedbackcaused by not receiving a PDCCH that includes a common field which canbe configured as a DAI command field, ACK0 may be selected to feed backuplink ACK/NACK information when none of the common fields in thesuccessfully received PDCCHs can be configured as the DAI command field,and ACK1 may be selected to feed back uplink ACK/NACK information when acommon field in the successfully received PDCCHs is configured as theDAI command field.

However, for a user equipment configured in the bundling mode, it maypossibly cause unnecessary waste of PDCCH resources that the number ofthe control channel units occupied by a PDCCH is always constrained tobe more than one. For PDSCH transmission of sending a correspondingPDCCH over the non-system-linked downlink component carrier, an uplinkchannel resource may be assigned in an explicit signaling notificationmanner. In this case, one uplink ACK channel resource may be assigned toone user equipment directly through high-level signaling; or one groupof uplink ACK channel resources are assigned through high-levelsignaling, and one default uplink ACK channel resource, for example, thefirst uplink ACK channel resource, is selected when the user equipmentis in the bundling feedback mode. When one group of uplink ACK channelresources are assigned through high-level signaling, a manner in whichone group of uplink ACK channel resources is assigned through high-levelsignaling in the multiplexing feedback mode may be adopted so as to keepa simple system design. In addition, when one default uplink ACK channelresource is selected from a group of assigned uplink ACK channelresources, different user equipment may select different default uplinkACK channels. For example, UE-1 selects by default the first uplink ACKchannel resource assigned through high-level signaling when in thebundling feedback mode and UE-2 selects by default the last uplink ACKchannel resource assigned through high-level signaling when in thebundling feedback mode. Mark an uplink ACK channel assigned implicitlyas ACK_(imp) and an uplink ACK channel assigned explicitly as ACK_(exp)To avoid the possible incorrect uplink ACK/NACK information feedbackcaused by not receiving a PDCCH that includes a common field which canbe configured as a DAI command field, ACK_(imp) may be selected to feedback uplink ACK/NACK information when none of the common fields in thesuccessfully received PDCCHs can be configured as the DAI command field,and ACK_(exp) may be selected to feed back uplink ACK/NACK informationwhen a common field in the successfully received PDCCHs is configured asthe DAI command field.

In this embodiment, a common field may be configured as a TPC commandfield and a DAI command field, and the UE may determine the assignedfirst ACK/NACK channel; after correctly receiving the first DCI, the UEfeeds back the ACK/NACK information through the determined firstACK/NACK channel, where the first DCI is DCI with a common fieldconfigured as a DAI command field, and the first ACK/NACK channel isdedicated to feed back the ACK/NACK information when the first DCI iscorrectly received. The first ACK/NACK channel may be determined throughan implicit rule or notified through high-level signaling. When thefirst ACK/NACK channel is determined according to a high-level signalingnotification, a group of ACK/NACK channels may be notified through thehigh-level signaling and the user equipment selects one or more ACK/NACKchannels from the group of ACK/NACK channels; or the user equipment usesall ACK/NACK channels notified through high-level signaling.

In this embodiment, a common field may be configured as a TPC commandfield and a DAI command field, and the UE may determine the assignedsecond ACK/NACK channel; and when the first DCI is not correctlyreceived, the UE feeds back the ACK/NACK information through thedetermined second ACK/NACK channel, where the second ACK/NACK channel isdedicated to feed back the ACK/NACK information when the first DCI isnot correctly received. The second ACK/NACK channel may be determinedthrough an implicit rule or notified through high-level signaling. Whenthe second ACK/NACK channel is determined according to a high-levelsignaling notification, a group of ACK/NACK channels may be notifiedthrough the high-level signaling and the user equipment selects one ormore ACK/NACK channels from the group; or the user equipment uses allACK/NACK channels notified through the high-level signaling.

In this embodiment, a common field is designed based on the conventionalTPC command field, where the common field may be configured as a TPCcommand field or DAI command field, which realizes the representation oftwo pieces of information by using the existing command field that canonly represent one piece of information without the need of anadditional command field, and reduces the bit overheads and thecomplexity of design and implementation.

FIG. 7 is a schematic flowchart of a method according to a fifthembodiment of the present invention. This embodiment takes an FDD systemfor example. As shown in FIG. 7, the method includes the following.

Step 71: A base station sets a common field in DCI, where the commonfield can be configured as a TPC command field, a DAI command field, andan ARI command field.

Step 72: The base station configures the common field in at least onepiece of DCI transmitted by a system-linked downlink component carrieras the TPC command field; when the feedback mode of ACK/NACK informationis a bundling feedback mode, the base station configures the commonfield in at least one piece of DCI transmitted by a non-system-linkeddownlink component carrier as the DAI command field; or when thefeedback mode of the ACK/NACK information is a multiplexing feedbackmode, the base station configures the common field in at least one pieceof DCI transmitted by the non-system-linked downlink component carrieras the ARI command field

The at least one piece of DCI transmitted by the system-linked downlinkcomponent carrier may specifically be the DCI corresponding to PDSCHtransmission of a downlink PCC and/or at least one piece of DCItransmitted by the downlink PCC. When the feedback mode of the ACK/NACKinformation is the bundling feedback mode, the configuring the commonfield in at least one piece of DCI transmitted by the non-system-linkeddownlink component carrier as the DAI command field may be, for example,configuring the common fields in the DCI transmitted by thenon-system-linked downlink component carrier as the DAI command fields;or configuring the common field in a pre-designated DCI transmitted bythe non-system-linked downlink component carrier as the DAI commandfield. When the feedback mode of the ACK/NACK information is themultiplexing feedback mode, the configuring the common field in at leastone piece of DCI transmitted by the non-system-linked downlink componentcarrier as the ARI command field may be, for example, configuring thecommon fields in the DCI transmitted by the non-system-linked downlinkcomponent carrier as the ARI command field; or configuring the commonfield in one piece of pre-designated DCI transmitted by thenon-system-linked downlink component carrier as the ARI command field.The one piece of pre-designated DCI may specifically be DCI which istransmitted first or last by the non-system-linked downlink componentcarrier and corresponds to the PDSCH transmission of a downlink non-PCCamong activated downlink component carriers.

Specifically, for one user equipment, when the ACK/NACK informationcorresponding to the PDSCHs transmitted by N_(DL) downlink componentcarriers is configured to be fed back over one uplink component carrier,the system-linked downlink component carrier of the uplink componentcarrier may possibly transmit n PDCCHs simultaneously, where 1≤n≤N_(DL)and the n PDCCHs respectively carry the DCI information for schedulingPDSCH transmission of n downlink component carriers. The case that n isgreater than 1 is possibly caused by the following two factors: in theN_(DL) downlink component carriers, there are at least two system-linkeddownlink component carriers of the uplink component carrier; and thePDCCH performs cross-carrier scheduling on the PDSCH transmission ofother carriers. There is one common field respectively in the DCIinformation carried by the n PDCCHs.

Taking FIG. 3 for example, the common field corresponding to downlinkcomponent carrier-2 is configured as the TPC command field; in thebundling feedback mode, the common fields corresponding to downlinkcomponent carrier-1 and downlink component carrier-3 are both configuredas the DAI command fields; and in the multiplexing feedback mode, thecommon fields corresponding to downlink component carrier-1 and downlinkcomponent carrier-3 are both configured as the ARI command fields.

Step 73: The base station sends the DCI to a user equipment, so that theuser equipment feeds back ACK/NACK information according to the DCI.

In this embodiment, the base station may assign ACK channel resources tothe user equipment in the following manner: when the feedback mode ofthe ACK/NACK information is the multiplexing feedback mode, referencemay be made to the embodiment shown in FIG. 5 for assignment; when thefeedback mode of the ACK/NACK information is the bundling feedback mode,reference may be made to the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 for assignment.

In this embodiment, the common field may be configured as the TPCcommand field, the DAI command field, and the ARI command field. Whenthe feedback mode of the ACK/NACK is the bundling feedback mode, the UEmay determine an assigned first ACK/NACK channel; and when receiving thefirst DCI correctly, the user equipment feeds back the ACK/NACKinformation through the determined first ACK/NACK channel, where thefirst DCI is DCI with a common field configured as the DAI commandfield, and the first ACK/NACK channel is dedicated to feed back theACK/NACK information when the first DCI is correctly received. The firstACK/NACK channel may be determined through an implicit rule or notifiedthrough high-level signaling. When the first ACK/NACK channel isdetermined according to a high-level signaling notification, a group ofACK/NACK channels may be notified through the high-level signaling, andthe user equipment selects one or more ACK/NACK channels from the group;or the user equipment uses all ACK/NACK channels notified through thehigh-level signaling.

In this embodiment, the common field may be configured as the TPCcommand field, the DAI command field, and the ARI command field. Whenthe feedback mode of the ACK/NACK information is the bundling feedbackmode, the UE may determine an assigned second ACK/NACK channel; and ifthe first DCI is not correctly received, the UE feeds back the ACK/NACKinformation through the determined second ACK/NACK channel, where thesecond ACK/NACK channel is dedicated to feed back the ACK/NACKinformation when the first DCI is not correctly received. The secondACK/NACK channel may be determined through an implicit rule or notifiedthrough high-level signaling. When the second ACK/NACK channel isdetermined according to a high-level signaling notification, a group ofACK/NACK channels may be notified through the high-level signaling, andthe user equipment selects one or more ACK/NACK channels from the group;or the user equipment uses all ACK/NACK channels notified through thehigh-level signaling.

In this embodiment, a common field is designed based on the existing TPCcommand field, where the common field may be configured as a TPC commandfield, a DAI command field, or an ARI command field, which realizes therepresentation of three pieces of information by using the existingcommand field that can only represent one piece of information withoutthe need of additional command fields, and reduces the bit overhead andthe complexity of design and implementation.

Note that in the first to the fifth embodiments of the presentinvention, for the data transmission of the downlink component carrier,the corresponding ACK/NACK information feedback is controlled accordingto the common field in the DCI. For the data transmission scheduledsemi-statically on the downlink component carrier, the initialtransmission is not controlled through the DCI, and the feedback ofACK/NACK information may reutilize the LTE system mechanism, which isbeyond the discussion scope of the present invention. In an LTE-Asystem, some multi-antenna technologies, for example, transmit diversityor space division multiplexing, may be introduced for the feedback ofuplink ACK/NACK information; in this case, the data transmission of onedownlink component carrier may require the assignment of two or moreuplink ACK channels. In an example in which the data transmission of onedownlink component carrier requires assignment of two uplink ACKchannels, the second ACK channel may be obtained by adding a fixedoffset to the assigned first ACK channel; or in the case that the uplinkACK channel is assigned through implicit mapping from the PDCCH, eachPDCCH occupies at least two control channel unit resources, and in thecase that the uplink ACK channels is assigned through an explicitsignaling notification, a group of uplink ACK channel resource pairs maybe configured directly through high-level signaling, and the ARI commandfield in the DCI indicates the currently assigned uplink ACK channelresource pair. This is not the focus of the present invention, and isnot further described here.

FIG. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a base station according toa sixth embodiment of the present invention, where the base stationincludes a configuring module 81 and a sending module 82. Theconfiguring module 81 is configured to configure a common field presetin DCI as at least one type of command field related to ACK/NACKfeedback of at least two types of command fields related to ACK/NACKfeedback, where the common field can be configured as the command fieldsrelated to ACK/NACK feedback. The sending module 82 is configured tosend the DCI to a user equipment, so that the user equipment feeds backACK/NACK information according to the DCI.

Further, the base station in this embodiment may include a settingmodule, where the setting module is configured to set the common fieldin the DCI.

The common field may be configured as a DAI command field and an ARIcommand field. In this case, the configuring module 81 includes a firstunit or a second unit. The first unit is configured to configure atleast one common field as the DAI command field when the feedback modeof the ACK/NACK information is a bundling feedback mode, for example, toconfigure all common fields as the DAI command fields or configure thecommon field in at least one piece of DCI transmitted by a downlink PCCand/or the common field in the DCI corresponding to the PDSCHtransmission of the downlink PCC as the DAI command field. The secondunit is configured to configure at least one common field as the ARIcommand field when the feedback mode of the ACK/NACK information is amultiplexing feedback mode, for example, to configure all common fieldsas the ARI command fields or configure the common field in at least onepiece of DCI transmitted by the downlink PCC and/or the common field inthe DCI corresponding to the PDSCH transmission of the downlink PCC asthe ARI command field.

Alternatively, the common field may be configured as a TPC command fieldand an ARI command field. In this case, the configuring module 81includes a third unit and a fourth unit. The third unit is configured toconfigure the common field in at least one piece of DCI transmitted by asystem-linked downlink component carrier as the TPC command field, forexample, specifically configured to configure the common field in theDCI corresponding to the PDSCH transmission of the downlink PCC and/orthe common field in at least one piece of DCI transmitted by thedownlink PCC as the TPC command field. The fourth unit is configured toconfigure the common field in at least one piece of DCI transmitted by anon-system-linked downlink component carrier as the ARI command field,for example, specifically configured to configure all common fields inthe DCI transmitted by the non-system-linked downlink component carrieras the ARI command fields, or configure the common field in one piece ofpre-designated DCI transmitted by the non-system-linked downlinkcomponent carrier as the ARI command field.

Alternatively, the third unit is configured to configure the commonfield in at least one piece of DCI transmitted by the non-system-linkeddownlink component carrier as the TPC command field; and the fourth unitis configured to configure the common field in at least one piece of DCItransmitted by the system-linked downlink component carrier as the ARIcommand field.

Alternatively, the common field may be configured as a TPC command fieldand a DAI command field. In this case, the configuring module 81includes a fifth unit and a sixth unit. The fifth unit is configured toconfigure the common field in at least one piece of DCI transmitted bythe system-linked downlink component carrier as the TPC command field,for example, specifically configured to configure the common field inthe DCI corresponding to the PDSCH transmission of the downlink PCCand/or the common field in at least one piece of DCI transmitted by thedownlink PCC as the TPC command field. The sixth unit is configured toconfigure the common field in at least one piece of DCI transmitted bythe non-system-linked downlink component carrier as the DAI commandfield, for example, specifically configured to configure all commonfields in the DCI transmitted by the non-system-linked downlinkcomponent carrier as the DAI command fields, or configure the commonfield in one piece of pre-designated DCI transmitted by thenon-system-linked downlink component carrier as the DAI command field.

Alternatively, the fifth unit is configured to configure the commonfield in at least one piece of DCI transmitted by the non-system-linkeddownlink component carrier as the TPC command field; and the sixth unitis configured to configure the common field in at least one piece of DCItransmitted by the system-linked downlink component carrier as the DAIcommand field.

Alternatively, the common field may be configured as a TPC commandfield, and a DAI command field, and an ARI command field. In this case,the configuring module 81 includes a seventh unit and an eighth unit.The seventh unit is configured to configure the common field in at leastone piece of DCI transmitted by the system-linked downlink componentcarrier as the TPC command field, for example, specifically configuredto configure the common field in the DCI corresponding to the PDSCHtransmission of the downlink PCC and/or the common field in at least onepiece of DCI transmitted by the downlink PCC as the TPC command field.The eighth unit is configured to configure the common field in at leastone piece of DCI transmitted by the non-system-linked downlink componentcarrier as the DAI command field when the feedback mode of the ACK/NACKinformation is the bundling feedback mode, for example, specificallyconfigured to configure all common fields in the DCI transmitted by thenon-system-linked downlink component carrier as the DAI command fieldsor configure the common field in one piece of pre-designated DCItransmitted by the non-system-linked downlink component carrier as theDAI command field; or the eighth unit is configured to configure thecommon field in at least one piece of DCI transmitted by thenon-system-linked downlink component carrier as the ARI command fieldwhen the feedback mode of the ACK/NACK information is the multiplexingfeedback mode, for example, specifically configured to configure allcommon fields in the DCI transmitted by the non-system-linked downlinkcomponent carrier as the ARI command fields or configure the commonfield in one piece of pre-designated DCI transmitted by thenon-system-linked downlink component carrier as the ARI command field.

Alternatively the seventh unit is configured to configure the commonfield in at least one piece of DCI transmitted by the non-system-linkeddownlink component carrier as the TPC command field; and the eighth unitis configured to configure the common field in at least one piece of DCItransmitted by the system-linked downlink component carrier as the DAIcommand field when the feedback mode of the ACK/NACK information is thebundling feedback mode, or configured to configure the common field inat least one piece of DCI transmitted by the system-linked downlinkcomponent carrier as the ARI command field when the feedback mode of theACK/NACK information is the multiplexing feedback mode.

For the specific functions performed by the foregoing modules, referencemay be made to the method embodiments, which are not repeatedlydescribed here. The base station provided in this embodiment may, forexample, execute the methods provided in the foregoing methodembodiments.

In this embodiment, a common field is set in the DCI and the commonfield may be configured as different command fields in differentscenarios. Therefore, from the perspective of effectiveness, the commonfield is equivalent to the sum of command fields that the common fieldmay be configured as, which realizes the representation of more commandfields by using a smaller number of bits, and reduces the bit overheadsand the complexity of design and implementation. Therefore, the numberof bits of the DCI information in the LTE-A system is kept consistentwith that in the LTE system as much as possible to achieve compatibilitywith the LTE system, so that most design in the LTE system is passeddown to the LTE-A system.

FIG. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a user equipment accordingto a seventh embodiment of the present invention, where the userequipment includes a receiving module 91 and a feedback module 92. Thereceiving module 91 is configured to receive DCI which is sent by a basestation and transmitted by a downlink component carrier. The feedbackmodule 92 is configured to feed back ACK/NACK information according to acommand field which is related to ACK/NACK feedback and configured in acommon field preset in the DCI, where the common field can be configuredas at least two types of command fields related to ACK/NACK feedback.

The at least two types of command fields related to ACK/NACK feedback,where the common field can be configured as the command fields relatedto ACK/NACK feedback, may be a DAI command field and an ARI commandfield; or a TPC command field and an ARI command field; or a TPC commandfield and a DAI command field; or a TPC command field, a DAI commandfield, and an ARI command field.

In this embodiment, the common field may be configured as the TPCcommand field and the DAI command field, or be configured as the TPCcommand field, DAI command field, and ARI command field, and when thefeedback mode of the ACK/NACK information is the bundling feedback mode,the user equipment may further include a determining module 93. Thedetermining module 93 is configured to determine an assigned firstACK/NACK channel; and the feedback module 92 is specifically configuredto feed back ACK/NACK information through the first ACK/NACK channeldetermined by the determining module 93, when a first DCI is correctlyreceived. In this embodiment, the first DCI is DCI with a common fieldconfigured as the DAI command field; and the first ACK/NACK channel isdedicated to feed back the ACK/NACK information when the first DCI iscorrectly received.

In this embodiment, the determining module 93 may further be configuredto determine a second ACK/NACK channel. The feedback module 92 isspecifically configured to feed back ACK/NACK information through thesecond ACK/NACK channel determined by the determining module 93, whenthe first DCI is not correctly received. In this embodiment, the secondACK/NACK channel is dedicated to feed back the ACK/NACK information whenthe first DCI is not correctly received.

For the specific functions executed by the foregoing modules, referencemay be made to the method embodiments, which are not repeatedlydescribed here. The user equipment provided in this embodiment may, forexample, execute the methods provided in the foregoing methodembodiments.

In this embodiment, a common field is set in the DCI and the commonfield may be configured as different command field in differentscenarios. Therefore, from the perspective of effectiveness, the commonfield is equivalent to the sum of command fields that the common fieldmay be configured as, which realizes the representation of more commandfields with a smaller number of bits, and reduces the bit overhead andthe complexity of design and implementation. Therefore, the number ofbits of the DCI information in the LTE-A system is kept consistent withthat in the LTE system as much as possible to achieve compatibility withthe LTE system, so that most design in the LTE system is passed down tothe LTE-A system.

Those of ordinary skill in the art may understand that all or part ofthe steps in the foregoing method embodiments may be implemented througha program instructing relevant hardware. The program may be stored in acomputer readable storage medium and when the program is run, the stepsin the foregoing method embodiments are performed. The foregoing storagemedium includes any medium that may store program codes, such as an ROM,an RAM, a magnetic disc, or a compact disc.

It may be understandable that the illustrations in the accompanyingdrawings or the description in the embodiments are schematic only andrepresent logic structures, where modules displayed or described asseparate parts may be or may not be physically separated, partsdisplayed or described as modules may be or may not be physical units,which means that they may be located in one place or distributed inseveral network entities.

Finally, it should be noted that, the foregoing embodiments are merelyused to describe instead of to limit the technical solutions of thepresent invention; although the present invention has been described indetail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those of ordinaryskill in the art should understand that: they may still makemodifications to the technical solutions described in the foregoingembodiments or make equivalent replacements to part of the technicalcharacteristics of the technical solutions; however, all thesemodifications and replacements do not make the corresponding technicalsolutions depart from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions inthe embodiments of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: receiving, from a base station, downlink control information (DCI) through a downlink component carrier; and feeding back Acknowledgement/Negative-acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) information according to a first command, wherein the first command is related to ACK/NACK feedback and configured in a common field in the DCI, wherein the first command is configurable to have a type of at least two types of commands related to ACK/NACK feedback, and the common field is configurable to carry the first command when the first command has any type of the at least two types of commands.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the common field is a transmission power control (TPC) command field, the at least two types of commands related to ACK/NACK feedback comprise three types of commands, and the three types of commands are: a TPC command type, a downlink assignment index (DAI) command type, and an acknowledgment (ACK) resource indication (ARI) command type.
 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the DCI comprises one or more pieces of DCI, a feedback mode of the ACK/NACK information is a multiplexing feedback mode, and feeding back the ACK/NACK information comprises: determining that the first command configured in the common field is the TPC command type in response to at least one piece of DCI that carries the first command being transmitted through a system-linked downlink component carrier; and determining that the first command configured in the common field is the ARI command type in response to the at least one piece of DCI that carries the first command being transmitted through a non-system-linked downlink component carrier.
 4. The method according to claim 2, wherein the DCI comprises one or more pieces of DCI, a feedback mode of the ACK/NACK information is a bundling feedback mode, and feeding back the ACK/NACK information comprises: determining that the first command configured in the common field is the TPC command type in response to at least one piece of DCI that carries the first command being transmitted through a system-linked downlink component carrier; and determining that the first command configured in the common field is the DAI command type in response to at least one piece of DCI that carries the first command being transmitted through a non-system-linked downlink component carrier.
 5. The method according to claim 4, further comprising: determining an assigned first ACK/NACK channel; and wherein feeding back the ACK/NACK information comprises: feeding back, through the assigned first ACK/NACK channel, ACK/NACK information in response to the at least one piece of DCI that carries the first command being correctly received and the first command being the DAI command type; and wherein the assigned first ACK/NACK channel is dedicated to being used to feed back the ACK/NACK information in response to the at least one piece of DCI that carries the first command being correctly received.
 6. The method according to claim 5, wherein determining the first ACK/NACK channel comprises: determining the assigned first ACK/NACK channel according to an implicit rule; or determining the assigned first ACK/NACK channel according to high-level signaling.
 7. The method according to claim 4, further comprising: determining an assigned second ACK/NACK channel; and wherein feeding back the ACK/NACK information comprises: feeding back, through the assigned second ACK/NACK channel, the ACK/NACK information in response to the at least one piece of DCI that carries the first command not being correctly received and the first command being the DAI command type; wherein the assigned second ACK/NACK channel is dedicated to use to feed back the ACK/NACK information in response to the at least one piece of DCI that carries the first command not being correctly received.
 8. The method according to claim 7, wherein determining the assigned second ACK/NACK channel comprises: determining the assigned second ACK/NACK channel according to an implicit rule; or determining the assigned second ACK/NACK channel according to high-level signaling.
 9. An apparatus, comprising: a transceiver, configured to receive, from a base station, downlink control information (DCI) through a downlink component carrier; and a processor, configured to: determine Acknowledgement/Negative-acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) information; and feed back, through the transceiver, the ACK/NACK information according to a first command, wherein the first command is related to ACK/NACK feedback and configured in a common field in the DCI, wherein the first command is configurable to have a type of at least two types of commands related to ACK/NACK feedback, and the common field is configurable to carry the first command when the first command has any type of the at least two types of commands.
 10. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the common field is a transmission power control (TPC) command field, the at least two types of commands related to ACK/NACK feedback comprise three types of commands, and the three types of commands are: a TPC command type, a downlink assignment index (DAI) command type, and an acknowledgment (ACK) resource indication (ARI) command type.
 11. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the DCI comprises one or more pieces of DCI, a feedback mode of the ACK/NACK information is a multiplexing feedback mode, and the processor is configured to: determine that the first command configured in the common field is the TPC command type in response to at least one piece of DCI that carries the first command being transmitted through a system-linked downlink component carrier; and determine that the first command configured in the common field is the ARI command type in response to the at least one piece of DCI that carries the first command being transmitted through a non-system-linked downlink component carrier.
 12. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the DCI comprises one or more pieces of DCI, a feedback mode of the ACK/NACK information is a bundling feedback mode, and the processor is configured to: determine that the first command configured in the common field is the TPC command type in response to at least one piece of DCI that carries the first command being transmitted through a system-linked downlink component carrier; and determine that the first command configured in the common field is the DAI command type in response to the at least one piece of DCI that carries the first command being transmitted through a non-system-linked downlink component carrier.
 13. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to: determine an assigned first ACK/NACK channel; wherein the processor is configured to: feed back, through the assigned first ACK/NACK channel, the ACK/NACK information in response to the at least one piece DCI that carries the first command being correctly received and the first command being the DAI command type; and wherein the assigned first ACK/NACK channel is dedicated to use to feed back the ACK/NACK information in response to the at least one piece of DCI that carries the first command being correctly received.
 14. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the processor is configured to: determine the assigned first ACK/NACK channel according to an implicit rule; or determine the assigned first ACK/NACK channel according to high-level signaling.
 15. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to: determine an assigned second ACK/NACK channel; wherein the processor is configured to: feed back, through the assigned second ACK/NACK channel, the ACK/NACK information in response to the at least one piece of DCI that carries the first command not being correctly received and the first command being the DAI command type; and wherein the second ACK/NACK channel is dedicated to use to feed back the ACK/NACK information in response to the at least one piece of DCI that carries the first command not being correctly received.
 16. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the processor is configured to: determine the assigned second ACK/NACK channel according to an implicit rule; or determine the assigned second ACK/NACK channel according to high-level signaling.
 17. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing programming for execution by a processor, the programming comprising instructions to: receive, from a base station, downlink control information (DCI) through a downlink component carrier; and feed back Acknowledgement/Negative-acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) information according to a first command, wherein the first command is related to ACK/NACK feedback and configured in a common field in the DCI, wherein the first command is configurable to have a type of at least two types of commands related to ACK/NACK feedback, and the common field is configurable to carry the first command when the first command has any type of the at least two types of commands.
 18. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 17, wherein the common field is a transmission power control (TPC) command field, the at least two types of commands related to ACK/NACK feedback comprise three types of commands, and the three types of commands are: a TPC command type, a downlink assignment index (DAI) command type, and an Acknowledgement (Ack) resource indication (ARI) command type.
 19. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 18, wherein the DCI comprises one or more pieces of DCI, and the programming further comprises instructions to: when a feedback mode of the ACK/NACK information is a multiplexing feedback mode: determine that the first command configured in the common field is the TPC command type in response to at least one piece of DCI that carries the first command being transmitted through a system-linked downlink component carrier; and determine that the first command indicated by the common field in the DCI is the ARI command type in response to the at least one piece of DCI that carries the first command being transmitted through a non-system-linked downlink component carrier.
 20. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 18, wherein the DCI comprises one or more pieces of DCI, and the programming further comprises instructions to: when a feedback mode of the ACK/NACK information is a bundling feedback mode, determine that the first command configured in the common field is the TPC command type in response to a least one piece of DCI that carries the first command being transmitted through a system-linked downlink component carrier; and determine that the first command configured in the common field is the DAI command type in response to the at least one piece of DCI that carries the first command being transmitted through a non-system-linked downlink component carrier. 